The Hindu Business Line : Trinethra draws up growth strategy for South

At a glance
The company will open stores in Kerala and in tier-II cities such as Coimbatore, Tirupur and Mysore.

It also has plans to launch formats like hypermarkets and specialty stores for fruits and vegetables.

Chennai , July 5

Trinethra Super Retail Ltd, the Andhra Pradesh-based grocery chain, has drawn up an aggressive growth strategy for the South.

Mr Pranab Barua, Chief Executive Officer, said Trinethra is targeting a turnover of over Rs 300 crore by March 2007 having registered a turnover of about Rs 170 crore by March 2006.

Mr Barua said that the company plans to have 220 stores by March 2007. Currently, the company has 83 stores in Andhra Pradesh, 26 in Bangalore and 15 outlets in Chennai. The company operates two brands, Trinethra and Fabmall, a retail brand acquired by the company.

The stores in Bangalore will be called Fabmall as it is better known in Karnataka, while the Trinethra brand will used in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

New stores

Mr Barua said that Trinethra will launch new stores in Kerala as well as stores in tier 2 cites such as Coimbatore, Tirupur and Mysore. The company is yet to take a decision as to which brand will be used in Kerala, he said.

In Kerala, most of the stores would also have a bakery attached and it has gone in for a tie up with the Kottayam-based Ann's Bakery. The stores in Kerala will also have a special Ayurveda section - the company is in talks with a Arya Vaidya Shala for this.

A typical store would be between 2,000 sq ft and 2,500 sq ft, which would be leased and would be located in residential areas. The investment required for one such store would be about Rs 30 lakh. The company has a store brand called `Quality First' for commodities such as rice, wheat and pulses.

He said that the investment this fiscal would be about Rs 50 crore. Next year, the company plans to move to smaller towns. He said that the company also has plans to launch formats like hypermarkets and specialty stores for fruits and vegetables.

Mr Barua said that Trinethra has tied up with farmers to supply fresh fruits and vegetables. The company has set up processing and sorting factories in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Ernakulam to clean and sort fresh produce.